overturned on remand —

ITC judge strikes last remaining Motorola patent claim against Apple

Google-rola was undone by its own earlier patent.

An administrative law judge at the International Trade Commission has ruled that Apple does not infringe the last remaining Motorola Mobility (now owned by Google) patent under investigation from a complaint filed over two years ago. It appears that an earlier Motorola patent rendered the patent-in-suit, which covers a sensor to prevent accidental touchscreen input, invalid for obviousness.

Motorola first filed its ITC complaint against Apple in October 2010, part of a preemptive strike against what Motorola saw as an impending legal battle with Apple over smartphone patents. The initial determination in April of this year by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender found that Apple did infringe a patent related to 3G wireless standards but not did not infringe any others, including US Patent No. 6,246,862, "Sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device." Pender had originally ruled that claim 1 of that patent was indefinite and therefore invalid.

On Motorola's request, a six-person ITC panel reviewed the initial determination over the summer. The panel reversed Pender's decision on infringement of the 3G-related patent as well as his ruling that claim 1 of the '862 patent was indefinite. The case was then remanded to reconsider the evidence concerning the '862 patent.

The remanded initial determination handed down this week found that the '862 patent was invalid due to prior art—in fact, an earlier Motorola patent had similar claims. As noted by FOSS Patents, the prior art had not previously been considered as Pender had ruled the initial claim indefinite and therefore invalid.

Pender's initial determination may yet still be reviewed by an ITC panel before it is made final. However, given the extensive review of the case already, the ITC may decline further review and enter the judgement as final.